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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27473800">Frowned Upon Behavior</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account'>orphan_account</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Voltron: Legendary Defender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Cyberpunk, Alternate Universe - Mob, Alternate Universe - Pirates, Bisexual Allura (Voltron), Bisexual Lance (Voltron), F/M, Gay Keith (Voltron), M/M, Pansexual Shiro (Voltron), but scifi, i swear once you read those tags'll make sense, kinda like robin hood and his merry men, nonbinary pidge</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 19:20:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,448</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27473800</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Deciding to take matters into his own hands was something he’d considered for a while. New Altea was fucked up, and he had no interest in involving himself in politics. Instead, he watched from the sidelines, cast his vote, and in the end, none of it mattered. Everything was littered with empty promises and lies, and ever so slowly New Altea got worse and worse.</p>
<p>Lance discovered a way to make things better, it just happened to be slightly...unethical.<br/>
</p>
<p>
  <b>▅▄▃▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▂▃▄▅</b>
</p>
<p>
<em>A story about love conquering all. (Even if you are breaking the law in the process.)<em></em></em></p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Allura/Lotor (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron), Matt Holt/Shiro</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Frowned Upon Behavior</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The man lands on the ground with a heavy thud and a groan, gravel flying through the air, blood trickling into a puddle from his nose. Keith holds him down with a foot, leaning his weight onto the captain’s spine as he tries to get up.</p>
<p>The neon lights glisten off the puddles nearby, casting a ghostly pink glow around the alleyway. Lance walks over slowly, lighting a cigarette behind a cupped hand. He takes a slow drag, exhaling as he crouches, grabbing the pirate captain by his hair and forcing him to look him in the eyes. “Here’s how this is gonna go,” Lance says, taking another drag of his cigarette. “You’re going to tell me where Zarkon is waiting for your ship, or my lovely assistant will take matters into his own hands.” He pauses, a grin taking over his features. “He really likes knives.”<br/>
</p>
<p>
  <b>▅▄▃▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▂▃▄▅</b>
</p>
<p>
<em>“Life's alright in devil town,</em><br/>
<em>Yeah, right, no one's gonna catch us now.</em><br/>
<em>Dad has bought a new car now,</em><br/>
<em>We're fine, no one's gonna catch us now.”</em><br/>
<em>-devil town</em></p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I've been planning this thing for three months, and it took another month to actually write this first chapter. I hope you guys enjoy it!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The party was deafening.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It shouldn’t have been surprising. When the crew decides to throw a party, it’s always loud. Once, they threw a party in the middle of a massive storm, ferocious winds and cracks of thunder not heard over their noise. Words are yelled back and forth, through other conversations, everyone trying to be heard. At least three fights were going on, small crowds cheering. Business deals are being dealt with, which everyone politely ignores. The barkeep had started cutting the party-goers off, giving them water and laughing when no one could tell the difference.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Keith watched the scene unfold from the edge of the second floor, leaning on the wooden railing as he watched the crewmates get drunk and idiotic. More than usual, anyway. The drink he had ordered at the start rested on the rail next to him, lukewarm and untouched.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It had been two months since he went undercover on one of Zarkon’s ships. It was long and tedious- watching and gathering whatever knowledge he could until they docked at Altea. He had gathered his intel- travel patterns, codes, protocols, anything he could get his hands on- and delivered it to Lance, who then relayed it to the other Paladins.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They have been planning it for nearly a year now. Lance went over and over the plan and each person's part until it was ingrained in their brains. Typically, Pink would be undercover; but Keith got sent instead. Lance almost didn’t let him go- wouldn’t have let him go- if a scuffle hadn’t started up between the Balmera and a small group of Galra. And with Pink heading out to help settle it (i.e. kick the Galra’s asses), that left Keith.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was a brief minute of panic as the plan changed- if Pink didn’t go undercover, Keith couldn’t get in touch with the Blade and try for some help. Lance had glared at the holo screen in front of him like it could fix everything, before sighing tersely and reassigning. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Saying goodbye was bittersweet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They didn’t make a big deal of it. It’d only be two months- maybe three- before Keith returned. It was dangerous, but that’s what they do. And if one of them broke down like it was some cheesy rom-com every time, they wouldn’t get anything done. So they hoped for the best and planned for the worse. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And if- </span>
  <em>
    <span>when</span>
  </em>
  <span> Keith returned, they wouldn’t even have time for a proper hello.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He hears Lance before he sees him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The soft sound of his footsteps as he approaches Keith from behind, a soft chuckle as he leans forward, whispering in Keith’s ear. “People watching again?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s hard to watch people when they’re boring as all hell.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lance scoffs, sidling up next to Keith and resting his elbows on the railing. His right hand dangles over the edge as he stares down at the commotion. “It’s not that boring.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“They’re doing what they always do,” Keith says, looking over at Lance. “Getting drunk and making fools of themselves.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lance hums, eyes flicking around the people on the lower level, before gazing at Keith. “You’re telling me you haven’t noticed anything interesting?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Keith holds his gaze for a moment before looking away, smirking. Lance chuckles. “Fine, don’t share.” The Cuban nudges the Red Paladin lightly with his elbow. “Hey,” Keith looks at him, “I missed you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Red Paladin lets out a shaky breath. “I missed you, too.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lance smiles at him, small and fond. His hand fumbles for Keith’s, intertwining their fingers when he finds it. “I’m glad you're safe.” They gaze at each other for a moment longer, and then fingers are slipping away from each other. Keith reminds himself not to be disappointed- they have a job to do, after all. “How long do you think they’ll be here?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Red Paladin tilts his head, eyes narrowing. His gaze ran over the pirates beneath them, never settling on anyone long. He hums, contemplating. “All night.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lance grins, teeth glistening. “Where’s the captain?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>▅▄▃▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▂▃▄▅</b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Lance remembers exactly when he came up with the idea.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Now, don’t make up your mind about him just yet. He was raised a good, Christian boy. He pays his taxes. He helps old ladies cross the street. He never curses around children (well, there was that one time, but it doesn’t count). He volunteers at an animal shelter (and if there are selfish reasons involved, no one but him will know). </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>When it comes down to it, Lance is a model citizen.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Deciding to take matters into his own hands was something he’d considered for a while. New Altea was fucked up, and he had no interest in involving himself in politics. Instead, he watched from the sidelines, cast his vote, and in the end, none of it mattered. Everything was littered with empty promises and lies, and ever so slowly New Altea got worse and worse.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Lance discovered a way to make things better, it just happened to be slightly...unethical. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>The people in power at New Altea were all rich assholes who craved power. And money was a tool they knew how to use- it keeps people quiet, it makes people do your dirty work, it lets you lounge in style while others work too much for just a loaf of bread. Another tool that’s just as effective, Lance realized, is fear.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Fear and power. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>And who other than the corrupt group of people known as the government has fear and power?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <b>▅▄▃▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▂▃▄▅</b>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>The man lands on the ground with a heavy thud and a groan, gravel flying through the air, blood trickling into a puddle from his nose. Keith holds him down with a foot, leaning his weight onto the captain’s spine as he tries to get up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The neon lights glisten off the puddles nearby, casting a ghostly pink glow around the alleyway. Lance walks over slowly, lighting a cigarette behind a cupped hand. He takes a slow drag, exhaling as he crouches, grabbing the pirate captain by his hair and forcing him to look him in the eyes. “Here’s how this is gonna go,” Lance says, taking another drag of his cigarette. “You’re going to tell me where Zarkon is waiting for your ship, or my lovely assistant will take matters into his own hands.” He pauses, a grin taking over his features. “He </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> likes knives.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The captain spits in Lance’s face. Keith only barely resists the urge to laugh.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lance lets go of the man’s hair, his head hitting the floor. The Cuban slowly stands up, wiping the spit off his cheek with his thumb, offense covering his features. Keith chuckles at that, and Lance frowns. “Don’t kill him, will you?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What’s the fun in that?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lance scoffs, wiping his hand on his coat. Keith doubts pirate spit is the worst thing on it. He steps close to Keith, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips, pulling away before Keith could try to deepen it. Lance chuckles at his pout. “Clean up the warehouse when you finish up?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, yeah.” Keith removes his foot from the pirate’s spine, pulling him to his feet by the back of his jacket. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <b>▅▄▃▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▂▃▄▅</b>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>The first person he approached was Allura.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>After her father had died, the corrupt people managed to climb the ladder like monkeys and destroyed the once-prosperous city of New Altea. If anyone wanted a change- wanted to restore New Altea- it was her. Not to mention, she knew her way around politicians- she knew exactly what they wanted and how to play them.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>The second person he approached was Hunk.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>He debated it for weeks. Hunk was the most wholesome, innocent guy he knew. He opened a restaurant (despite how difficult the city council had made it) and volunteered at soup kitchens every Sunday. Alas, Hunk had traits Lance needed, and he would be sure to keep Hunk on the outskirts as much as possible. He looked scary when he wanted to be, he was ridiculously strong, and Lance...really didn’t want to do this without him.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>The third person he approached was Shiro.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Hell, Shiro could do this. Shiro was a commander, a leader. Lance was just some kid fed up with the world. He was the first one- the only one- to turn down Lance’s offer. He did, however, know someone just as fed up with the world’s shit as Lance.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Which led to Keith.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Lance almost asked him out to coffee instead of what he wanted to ask, but he held strong. If Shiro hadn’t been exaggerating- and he mostly hadn’t- Keith would be a valuable asset. And he knew from every drama show he’d ever seen that mixing business and pleasure never ended well. The thing is, Keith would only join on one condition.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Which led to Pidge.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Pidge was hard to track down and even harder to convince to join. They just stared at him most of the time, clearly unimpressed. Lance almost gave up. He didn’t know anyone else who could do what Pidge does- according to Keith they were the best- and every show and movie in history told him that a hacker was essential. They left him a message on his computer a few days later, accepting the invitation.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>And just like that, he had a mob.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <b>▅▄▃▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▂▃▄▅</b>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lance has several safe houses all over the city- most of which Keith probably knew nothing about. He wouldn’t be surprised if he had safe houses outside the city, too. Lance is paranoid as all hell, and through the years, it had started rubbing off onto Keith. None of Lance’s assets know each other, only of, even though they work together consistently. None of them know about particular safe houses- they each have a list that doesn’t cross over with anyone else’s.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s nice to be able to count on an empty warehouse when you’re supposed to torture someone. No paths intersecting. It had been a few hours since he arrived and got down to business, and some sane remnant in his brain told him he really should be worried about how loud the screams are. Yet, Keith couldn’t find it in him. He’d unrolled one of his knife collections on the desk (he has several and it’s Lance’s fault) before going to work. It’d been an hour, and still, he had nothing. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Everyone in Zarkon’s crew has a will of steel, and after a while it gets annoying. They would be able to track down Zarkon from the intel Keith had gathered- once Green decrypts it- but they have no idea what security measures are in place. Thus, the captain. Other than a few “fuck you”’s that get thrown at Keith, he isn’t saying much of anything. It was going to be a long night, which meant an even longer wait for some time alone with Lance.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Keith sighed, picking up his now clean blades and walking back over to the captain.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>▅▄▃▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▂▃▄▅</b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Code names were easy.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Did he base them off of what everyone was wearing? Plausible. He let Keith know he’d be able to work with Pige, but never directly told him who Pidge was. It was very obvious the way Keith’s eyes lit up in recognition the first time he worked with Green that he knew who it was, but nothing was ever confirmed or denied.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Lance decided early in the game that none of the Paladins would meet each other face to face. Pidge set up the software for them to use- Olkarion, they called it- to contact and work together without actually meeting up. This way, if someone got captured, they couldn’t drag the rest of them down, too.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>If Lance got caught, they were all screwed- but only if he told anyone anything. On this realization, he set up a self-destruct for Voltron. Worse come to worse, all evidence that they ever existed would disappear. Including him.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>It quickly became obvious who worked the best together. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Keith and Allura, Hunk and Pidge, Keith and Pidge, and...well, Keith and himself. Except he’ll never tell anyone that. It was hard enough convincing Keith he didn’t remember anything from that fight together- his concussion was too prominent and he was passed out the majority of the time, and that was a story he was sticking with. Business and pleasure never mix.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>The beginning of Voltron was a cringy, painful, and most definitely bumpy road. But things started changing, just a little at a time, and that, Lance thinks, is worth it.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>▅▄▃▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▂▃▄▅</b>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>The apartment was silent.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The apartment was </span>
  <em>
    <span>never</span>
  </em>
  <span> silent. Especially when Lance was home- and according to the text Keith got thirty minutes ago, he was. He closed the door with a soft </span>
  <em>
    <span>click</span>
  </em>
  <span>, his hand instinctively going to the blade at his belt. Something was off.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Lance?” He called out into the darkly lit apartment. No one replied. “Lance, this isn’t funny.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That seems like the most likely answer- Lance was trying to surprise him after two months apart. Maybe there was no meeting with Pink, there was just him going out and being a cheesy boyfriend. Keith smiled a little at the thought, turning on the apartment’s main lights. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The living room, kitchen, and dining room all flooded with light. Keith dropped his weaponry and tools on the back of the couch, before padding down the hall and opening their bedroom door. Nothing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His brow furrowed in confusion as he opened the door wider. “Lance? Seriously?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>No response. Of course.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. He crossed the hall to the office, opened the door, and-</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What the fuck,” Keith muttered, taking in the mess around him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Their office was always a mess, that was a given. Neither of them are organizers, so papers tended to pile up on the desk and then fall to the floor. They had corkboards covering two of the walls, currently presenting their plan to take down Zarkon. None of this mess was unusual…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was the fact that it looked like a hurricane hit.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>One of the desk legs had broken, causing everything on it to flow to the floor. One of the cork boards had fallen off the wall, the strings and pins somehow coming loose in the process. Keith’s breath hitched, thoughts entering his head at top speed and leaving just as quickly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Thoughts trying to rationalize it- maybe Lance wasn’t home and his text hadn’t gone through. Maybe he was trying to freak Keith out. Why? No idea, but it was better than the other thoughts.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Thoughts that Lance was missing. No, not missing, kidnapped.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And the only person who’d do that…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, God…”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm hoping I can keep a schedule of updating once a month, but with holidays coming up it's more likely there'll be delays than updates. Thank you so much for reading this far lol, you're a trooper! </p>
<p>I post snippets of fics I'm working on on my <a href="https://spartona.tumblr.com/">tumblr</a>.</p>
<p>Comments and kudos are always appreciated :3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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